Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Drummond on September 18, 2011, 05:46:00 PM
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I think he is.
His standard of keeping reminds me of some of the saves that Bossie used to make and that our other keepers since, whilst good, wouldn't have made.
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Shay's better in my opinion and I was a massive Bossie fan.
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Yes.
An excellent keeper and a bargain.
He is better with his feet than Bosnich as well.
A great signing for us.
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He's fantastic and I love the fact he took a pay cut to come to us
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He's fantastic and I love the fact he took a pay cut to come to us
...although he did get a five year contract!
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Yes.
An excellent keeper and a bargain.
He is better with his feet than Bosnich as well.
A great signing for us.
Agreed. Just hope he stays injury-free.
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The bloke in front of me thinks he's rubbish.
I think the bloke in front of me chats a whole lot of shit.
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So far, he's the best I've seen.
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I knew he was a decent keeper, but he is far and away better than I thought. He has minor issues, he is sometimes on his line although he comes for what he knows he can get, which is maybe safer than coming and not getting. Overall though, easily better than Friedel, Rudolph, Sorensen, James.... he and Bosnich at their best would have been a hell of a fight.
Also, I don't actually think Joe Hart is much better, possibly only rated higher due to his age.
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Best since Rimmer.
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I loved to watch Bossie, he reached stuff he had no right too and gave the defence so much confidence. I think Given is doing the same already, some of his saves yesterday were brilliant. It's great to see a keeper in top form. (providing he's on your side of course!)
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I think Given his a top top keeper I'm just glad we have got him.
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Safe
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He's superb. I want to kiss him.
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He's superb. I want to kiss him.
Fair enough.....No tongues, Shay won't go that far, then again...who knows
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Best since Rimmer.
Correct
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Top keeper, great save yesterday and glad he is ours!
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Well that didn't take long. 5 games in and now ye are all seeing what us Republic of Ireland supporters have been saying with years.
They guy is class, we are lucky to have him.
Keep it up Shay.
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Great keeper, although I do think he's got a way to go to be as consistently good as bossie.
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Great keeper, although I do think he's got a way to go to be as consistently good as bossie.
For Villa , yes.
In the Premier League, no.
Only Man City could have left him sitting on his arse all last season.
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Definately the best we have had since Bossie, if he stays fit I think he will save us a lot of points we would have let slip last year.
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Without doubt. In fact, Shay's been so consistent over his career, far more consistent than Bossie ever was. Bos obviously did little after us, and also wasn't at his best in 94-95. I think the crew cut lost him his powers, like Samson. But yeah, I thought Friedel was excellent, but Shay's even better. IMO one of the best keepers to grace the Prem. Worthy of placement in the elite with the likes of Schmeichal, Seaman and Edwin. I'd have him over Hart too, so we're lucky to have him. There's few better shot stoppers than Given.
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Bozzie and Shay are probably the two best shot stoppers I've seen. B was more commanding in the air, SG is better with his feet. Bozzie could cover more goal, but Shay has the better close range reflex. I'm a sucker for a spectacular dive and I loved Bozzie because not only would he make saves that you thought he would never reach but he would hold on to them as well. Shay is so good at multiple blocks in succession. Bozzie will always be my favourite if he didn't hit the Charlie could still be playing now. Shay has been brilliant for the 15 years I've been watching football.
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Spot on, best since Bosnich, and the only one to come close is James IMO
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Well that didn't take long. 5 games in and now ye are all seeing what us Republic of Ireland supporters have been saying with years.
They guy is class, we are lucky to have him.
Keep it up Shay.
This. I have always said he was world class.
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Let's have a bit of proportion first. Jimmy Rimmer was this good for six seasons - Shay hasn't played six games yet.
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Outstanding keeper....no question.
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He is a top goalkeeper and he inspires confidence in the team.
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That save from Cabaye right from the end was unbelievable, thought it was in all the way.
However being ultra critical (and this is a definite weakness in Given's game) should he not be coming out to punch away the cross when Best was only 5 yards out?
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I think Dunne lost Best for the cross, it was also very close to being offside, sometimes the linesman would of given the defending side the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunatley, he didn't unlike, some who seem to do the same with Bent and, Best put it away at the second attempt.
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It is only five games.
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Shay has been tremendous for us so far this season.
The probem is though, we have had to see rather too much from him, I'd rather he not be quite as busy as he has been
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Top keeper, sadly though I think we will be needing him a little too often.
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It is only five games.
been a very good keeper all of his career thou ...
Is he stays fit and we get 3 seasons out of him , it will be a steal ...
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Stunning signing.
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5 year deal still doesn't sit well with me.
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5 year deal still doesn't sit well with me.
He looks like a 25 year old at the moment , lets just hope he does a Friedel or Van da sar ....
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We'd probably have lost three games already this season with any of the other post Bosnich keepers we've had here.
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We'd probably have lost three games already this season with any of the other post Bosnich keepers we've had here.
we would be blowing chunks out of McLeish and each other if we'd already lost three games this season. Difference between disgruntlement and a proper crisis.
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We'd probably have lost three games already this season with any of the other post Bosnich keepers we've had here.
we would be blowing chunks out of McLeish and each other if we'd already lost three games this season. Difference between disgruntlement and a proper crisis.
And yet only 1 point different - had we lost 3 and won 2. Draws are ok, but they take you nowhere, fast.
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Point taken, but Given can't win a game on his own. He can only stop you from losing.
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Best keeper ive seen in 35 yrs of watching villa -not just based on his performances this season but knowing how consistent hes been over the last decade -we have got a top top keeper here and much better than flapper friedal, my only worry is if shay gets a long term injury as i dont feel guzan is up to the job and wish we had signed westwood as back up for free.
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Top keeper, sadly though I think we will be needing him a little too often.
Agree with this. I mean, the defence if you look at our performances so far, are still not performing fantastically. It seems Given is the one keeping us in games.
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His shot stopping is every bit as we had been led to believe and I don't think he can really be faulted for that part of his game.
However he's not perfect. Best had a header from inside the six yard box for his goal on Saturday and Friedel even at his worst would still have taken that cross comfortably.
Can't complain too much though, if he were able to command his box and come for crosses more often then there's no way he'd be playing for us at the moment.
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His shot stopping is every bit as we had been led to believe and I don't think he can really be faulted for that part of his game.
However he's not perfect. Best had a header from inside the six yard box for his goal on Saturday and Friedel even at his worst would still have taken that cross comfortably.
Can't complain too much though, if he were able to command his box and come for crosses more often then there's no way he'd be playing for us at the moment.
Dave, I completely disagree re Friedel taking that cross - he was glued to his line much of last season. I think you giving him great credit if you think he would have come for it. The goal was poorly defended by our defenders not marking Best.
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We'll have to agree to disagree.
Whether Friedel would or wouldn't have come for it, Given shouldn't certainly should have. I can't think of any occasion when a cross is inside the six yard box and the keeper shouldn't be claming it. Particularly when he and Leon Best are the same height and Given has the benefit of using his hands.
As I said, it's a failing that if he didn't possess he would be one of the best keepers in the world and playing for a much bigger club than us. And I'm much happier with him in goal than I thought I would be when his signing was first mooted.
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For what it’s worth, here’s my opinion of Shay.
Good signing, can’t think of anyone else we could have got. Good shot stopper, excellent reactions, good with his feet.
On the negative side, I think he stays on his line too much and relies on the defence to deal with crosses. By not taking the crosses, the pressure often remains on, or, as other have noted elsewhere, the ball gets hoofed away, allowing the opposition to start building again. Also, if he took the cross, he probably wouldn’t have to make as many saves.
If I were the opposition, I would be attacking down the flanks (where we still appear to have problems) send in a lot of crosses, pressure the centre backs and follow up for the 2nd ball.
This seems to be the trend with keepers nowadays.
Still a good signing.
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Shay Given is proving to be an amazing signing at the moment, so much that it appears Villa have made the best & worst buy of the transfer window-Given & N'Zogbia
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Shay Given is proving to be an amazing signing at the moment, so much that it appears Villa have made the best & worst buy of the transfer window-Given & N'Zogbia
Agree - good signing - just pointing out what I have noticed.
I played in goal at various (mainly low) levels for a number of years and tend to take a rather negative approach. I judge by 'what would you have said if he hadn't made that save' and have to say I have been extremely impressed by the saves. Still a worry on the cross handling though.
As for N'Zogbia, I hope its just a case of him having not settled yet. I hope.
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Incidentally, I'd say that his save against QPR was a better save than the heralded (but still very good) one against Newcastle.
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Was quite often impressed whenever I've seen Given play for Ireland. At Newcastle and Man Citeh he looked good -rather than great. A good shot stopper but by no means unbeatable.
I freely admit I said I would have preferred Foster in the summer too. Primarily because of his age. He'd have been a more long term acquisition and his wages might be a good bit less. A five year contract for a player who is no stranger to the treatment table also seemed excessive. Then there is the Dunne/ Stephen Ireland scenario - a player leaving a club on the up and just going through the motions here.
A bit unfair on Dunne maybe, as he was decent in his first season. And Ireland showed some nice touches and drive second half yesterday, and got into some good positions. But you get what I mean.
Speaking to a Bluenose acquaintance at the start of the season - one of the rare reasonable, knowledgeable ones- and he said if he had a choice of Foster or Given, he'd have Given every time.
Our best player by a country mile so far this season. If we can keep him fit, we've got one less position to worry about.
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Foster has been largely poor from highlights of Albion thus far.
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I had reservations about us signing given but he's already convinced me I was wrong. I was worried about him on crosses and thought he was one of these flamboyant keepers who made the basics look spectacular.
But he's been brilliant for us so far. Still a question mark over him on crosses but that was the same with our old keeper. The thing is with Given, as well as being a very consistent goalie, is that he will make some saves that the vast majority of goalies just would not be able to make, and that can win/save you points. So I guess he is like Bossie in that respect.
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For me Shay has to take some responsibility for the flak regarding the defence - I think he is a very good keeper but not a great one ... purely down to the fact he does not command his box, certainly with crosses. Not sure how tall he is but this seems his one achilles heel.
I am sure switched on coaches at other clubs realise this also.
It would help if we stopped giving away needless free kicks and corners.
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When was the last time we had a keeper who would come for a cross.I am sure that is why we defend too deep and give away so many late goals.
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If you watch other teams the days of keepers charging out for every corner are long gone. There are so many players in the six yard box these days and the delivery is generally so good that they've got no chance of getting to the ball. Given is no better or worse than most other keepers, it's just another part of the game that is slowly disappearing.
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I can't compare him to bossie because I didn't see him play, certainly not old enough to remember anyway. But he's started well for us, I did worry about his command of area when he signed and it stays that way, our defence doesn't help him in the slightest though. We'll see how it pans out, as long as we get a few years out of him then its an inspired signing
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Great keeper, better than Bossie because his kicking is better.
Took a pay cut to sign for us but when you are on over 100k a week you would have to take a pay cut to go anywhere else anyway.
He may be the difference this season between relegation and survival.
Always been one of the top 5 keepers in the league. 10 years +
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Great keeper, better than Bossie because his kicking is better.
Took a pay cut to sign for us but when you are on over 100k a week you would have to take a pay cut to go anywhere else anyway.
He may be the difference this season between relegation and survival.
Always been one of the top 5 keepers in the league. 10 years +
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Just on lower levels of nazi salutes and grammage of powder snorted, I have to say Given over Bosnich.
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David James would come for crosses, more often then he should've as we saw in the cup final.
I thought Given was at fault for the Newcastle goal but wouldn't blame him for the 2nd yesterday.